Four bidders enrolled for the tender for the toll system after 201924/8/2017|Press releasesFour parties interested – bidders registered in the competition for the toll system operator on Czech motorways and category I roads. This confirmed that there is interest in the contract on the market and the selection of the new toll operator can successfully continue. The Ministry of Transport will now assess whether all candidates have fulfilled the required qualification and will invite them to submit a preliminary bid. "We fulfilled the government resolution and announced the toll tender ahead of the scheduled date. Now we have four applications from reputable companies and continue to follow the tender schedule. Within one month we will assess whether all bidders have met the requirements and invite them to submit their preliminary bid," said the transport minister Dan Ťok. The first round of the toll competition was designed to make the bidders familiar with the tender documentation. They had the opportunity to register in the competition until August 24 and prove their required qualifications. After verifying that they have met the requirements, the next phase will follow. In this phase the bidders will already offer the technical toll solution and the price. The ministry will assess whether the technical solution meets the tender requirements and select the best offer. The price will be the main criterion. "The toll system is a technically very challenging job. It constitutes, among other things, critical infrastructure of the state with high security requirements. On top of that, the operator has to be prepared to reliably collect the toll from the first day on and cannot afford any disruption. Therefore, I consider the four tender applications to be a good number. It is good that the market will now show what is the right price for the toll operation. We will continue with the competition to make sure that the situation when the state was badly late with the tender preparation and I had to face the problem will not happen again," said Ťok. The Ministry of Transport announced the bidding proceedings for the toll system operator on June 15. The estimated contract price is almost CZK 29 billion excluding VAT for 10 years. The range of the toll will be extended by 2020 to another 900.3 kilometres of category I roads, according to the government's decision. Altogether, the new toll operator should charge fees for 1347 km of motorways and 1141 km of category I roads. The competition may reduce the contract price.